Biological Psychiatry of Cancer and Cancer Treatment

As long-term cancer survival becomes a widely shared experience, the quality of life of people living with and beyond a cancer diagnosis is increasingly important. Optimizing the prevention and treatment of any psychiatric consequences of certain tumours and treatments is now central to high-quality cancer care. This book—a rather original addition to the oncology and psycho-oncology literature—aims to equip oncology clinicians with the knowledge to more expertly prevent, detect, and manage the ‘organic’ psychiatric disorders experienced by people with cancer. It will also serve as a valuable introduction to contemporary oncology for psychiatrists.The psychiatry of cancer is a distinct subject within the wider field of psycho-oncology. Psychiatric disorders arising through direct biological mechanisms from particular tumours or cancer treatments is a narrower topic still, but one in which oncologists are required to have expertise. This book considers in detail the psychiatric aspects of pro-inflammatory cytokines, endocrine paraneoplastic syndromes, onconeuronal antibodies, brain irradiation, hormone deprivation, glucocorticoid treatment, conventional chemotherapies, and molecularly targeted agents.